Olympe du Bemaraha

We were given a bungalow (no 18) at the very bottom of the steps, so it was a trek up and downhill to go to the pool, bar or restaurant. That said it was clean and comfortable with a nice view from the verandah. However the shutters did not fasten properly and kept bangin in the wind. The pool area was nice situated right next to the bar/restaurant, but did get busy in the afternoon. Staff were friendly and several spoke reasonable English so we didn't have any communication problems. The choice from the bar needs attention, no gin - orange - lemonade etc - they were offering what we would describe as old fashioned spirits which we all drank in the late 70's such as Cinzano! Despite the cocktail list they couldn't prepare them as they didn't have the ingredients!. When I asked the manager if he had gin his response was "what is gin", yet he said he'd spent a fair bit of time in Europe!! Food was acceptable, bit of an issue with managing to get a table to eat outside as big groups just filling them but not eating. Couldn't get online for the 3 days we were there, despite them displaying 3 router passwords in the bar area which was the only place you could supposedly get it. No electric in the day or after 10.00pm. Situated out of town, you need a driver.

Very nice bungalows and an amazing location. All of us got diarrhea after the first day. The Tsingy National Park is within walking distance, and taking a trip in the wooden canoes on the river is strongly recommended. The power is out at night, so bring a headlight or a lamp.

Nothing was amiss with Olympe du Bemaraha: rooms were fine, clean, bathroom was OK, too. Restaurant was also OK, nothing special, but food was very adequate. Very useful was presence of two craft shops: after the flight from Antananarivo to Morandava where Tsaradia airlines managed to leave behind the luggage of half of the passengers and we arrived with what we had in our scanty hand luggage, it was a relief to be able to buy at least a teashirt. Hotel garden is really nice.

We stayed two nights in Olympe Du Bemaraha hotel in July. The hotel is mid-range in Madagascar standard, we arrived late and learned we got the last room in the hotel, but the toilet does not work. We had to  change to another room and therefore went for dinner really late. I felt already bad 3h later around midnight and had a really stomach problem the entire night, as I was the only one who ate the duck at the dinner, we concluded it must be the duck. Next day, I did not eat but only drank water or other beverages. My husband was the next one got sick from the dinner, this time, most likely the zebu. On the way leaving the hotel, we met other families, whose 3 kids were also sick from the dinner. We asked our guide, it was most likely due to COVID, that many experienced people working there left, and we can see that current crew was not experienced and are facing challenges when the hotel is full.

After dropping 2 clients at Olympe du Bemaraha and spending myself 2 night at the hotel, i can rank this Hotel as the best one in the Bemaraha, while you are visiting the National park of Tsingy. The food is quite delicious, 10 out 10 specifically the desert. The accomodation itself are the luxuous one you can find in this isolated village, my client complain about not having hot watter on the evening wich is quite understandable as the electricity is powered by solar panal, so hot watter is just accessible for few hours , before sun goes down. Services with smile, very testy ''rhum arrange'' and no unexpected visitor at night (i am refering to some nocturnal species that can infiltrate at night) I have visited and accomodate mostly in diverse Hotel in Bemaraha, but Olympe is my favorite one. Highly recommend without any doubt.